DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:19 PM Page iii Defining Moments The spanish- American War Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom 155 W. Congress, Suite 200 Detroit, MI 48226 DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:19 PM Page v Table of Contents Preface . .ix How to Use This Book . .xiii Research Topics for Defining Moments: The Spanish-American War . .xv NARRATIVE OVERVIEW Prologue . .3 Chapter One: American Expansion in the 1800s . .7 Chapter Two: Spain and Its Colonies . .23 Chapter Three: The Call to Arms: Remember the Maine! . .35 Chapter Four: A “Splendid Little War” in Cuba . .53 Chapter Five: The War in the Philippines . .71 Chapter Six: American Imperialism in the New Century . .85 Chapter Seven: Legacy of the Spanish-American War . .103 BIOGRAPHIES Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964) . .121 Filipino Rebel Leader and Politician George Dewey (1837-1917) . .124 American Naval Commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Spanish-American War William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) . .128 American Newspaper Publisher of the New York Journal and Leading Architect of “Yellow Journalism” v DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:19 PM Page vi Defining Moments: The Spanish-American War Queen Lili’uokalani (1838-1917) . .132 Last Monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii Antonio Maceo (1845-1896) . .136 Cuban Military Leader in the Ten Years’ War and the Spanish-American War José Martí (1853-1895) . .140 Cuban Revolutionary Leader and Writer William McKinley (1843-1901) . .143 President of the United States during the Spanish-American War Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) . .147 Hero of the Spanish-American War and President of the United States, 1901-1909 Valeriano Weyler (1838-1930) . .152 Spanish General Who Carried Out Brutal Reconcentration Plan in Cuba in 1897 PRIMARY SOURCES President Monroe Announces a New American Approach to Foreign Affairs . .157 Americans Embrace the Idea of “Manifest Destiny” . .161 An Explorer-Historian Ponders an America without New Land to Conquer . .164 An American Reporter Describes Death and Destruction in Cuba . .168 The de Lôme Letter Scandal Increases Tensions between Spain and America . .174 America’s Yellow Press Blames Spanish Treachery for the Loss of the Maine . .176 President McKinley Calls for American Military Intervention in Cuba . .179 Theodore Roosevelt Recalls the Battle for the San Juan Heights . .184 Admiral Dewey Recalls the Battle of Manila Bay . .188 vi DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:19 PM Page vii Table of Contents The United States and Spain Sign the Treaty of Paris . .192 Emilio Aguinaldo Protests the American Occupation of the Philippines . .196 A U.S. Senator Claims “The Philippines Are Ours Forever” . .198 Mark Twain Condemns American Actions in the Philippines . .202 The Philippine Islands Receive Their Independence . .206 Important People, Places, and Terms . .207 Chronology . .211 Sources for Further Study . .217 Bibliography . .219 Photo and Illustration Credits . .221 Index . .223 vii DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:20 PM Page 85 Chapter Six American Imperialism in the New Century 5 We come as ministering angels, not despots. —Senator Knute Nelson, 1899 hen the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, the Spanish-American War came to a close. WThe whole affair had been humiliating for Spain, which in the space of eight months had lost colonies in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S. military. With the signing of the peace agreement, though, the Spaniards could at least begin the process of recovering from the many economic, political, and societal injuries it had suffered in the conflict. Most Americans, meanwhile, saw the Treaty of Paris as cause for celebration. The document symbolized their nation’s arrival as a global power, and when it was submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, most observers expected it to sail through for approval. Congress Debates the Future of the Philippines Storm clouds of uncertainty quickly cast a shadow over the Senate’s deliberations, however. On December 21 President McKinley issued a “Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation” regarding America’s role in the Philippines. McKinley’s statement insisted that the United States intended to treat the Filipino people kindly and with respect. But it also approved the use of military force to preserve U.S. rule over the islands. The proclamation showed that the McKinley administration already regard- ed the Philippines as U.S. territory. In essence, the Americans had decided that 85 DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:20 PM Page 86 Defining Moments: The Spanish-American War the Philippines’ value as an economic and military asset was so great that the United States should add it to its territorial possessions. This stance was angrily denounced by Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Filipino rebels who had fought to push Spain out of the islands and obtain self-rule. Aguinaldo claimed that his insurgents were prepared to take up arms against the Americans, just as they had done against the Spanish, if they denied Filipinos their independence. “Upon their heads be all the blood which may be shed,” he warned.1 When the Senate commenced debate on the treaty in January 1899, the anger voiced by Aguinaldo and many other Filipinos was seized on by Ameri- cans who opposed the United States’ absorption of the Philippines. American Federation of Labor (AFL) President Samuel Gompers predicted that “if we annex the Philippines, we shall have to conquer the Filipinos by force of arms, and thereby deny to them what we claim to ourselves—the right to self- government.”2 Other anti-imperialists objected to annexation on moral grounds, charging that using superior military and economic power to con- trol foreign peoples was an evil practice. The issue, insisted Republican Sena- tor George Frisbie Hoar, was “whether Congress may conquer and may gov- ern, without their consent and against their will, a foreign nation [with] a separate, distinct, and numerous people.”3 Other opponents charged that the Constitution did not grant the gov- ernment powers of annexation, thus making the Treaty of Paris an illegal doc- ument. Racism also accounted for some of the anti-ratification push; a num- ber of senators disliked the idea of adding millions of dark-skinned “primi- tives” from the Philippines and Cuba to the American empire. Finally, some Democrats in the Senate knew that rejection of the treaty would be a humili- ating political blow to McKinley, a Republican they hoped to turn out of the White House in the 1900 elections. Supporters of the treaty expressed great frustration about this opposi- tion. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge declared that if the Senate rejected the treaty, America would be “branded as a people incapable of taking rank as one of the greatest world powers!”4 Republican Senator Albert J. Beveridge of Indiana spoke for many supporters when he framed American rule over the Philippines as a divine mission from God (See “A U.S. Senator Claims ‘The Philippines Are Ours Forever,’” p. 198). He proclaimed that “we will move forward to our work … with gratitude for a task worthy of our strength and thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world.” Beveridge also empha- 86 DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:20 PM Page 87 Chapter Six: American Imperialism in the New Century sized the economic benefits of possess- ing the Philippines, which sat on the doorstep of the vast markets of China and other Asian nations. “Most future wars will be conflicts for commerce,” he said. “The power that rules the Pacific, therefore, is the power that rules the world. And, with the Philip- pines, that power is and will forever be the American Republic.”5 Finally, Beveridge and Lodge and their allies insisted that American-style colonial rule over foreign peoples would be different from the European colonial- ism of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies. They felt that the “essential Ameri- can character,” as historian Evan Thomas wrote, was “better—somehow more decent—than that of other nations.… America would be different, more moral, less likely to be seduced by the tempta- tions of conquest and booty … it would Senator Albert Beveridge ranked among the leading imperialists in Washington. uplift rather than beat down.”6 An Outburst of Bloodshed Saves the Treaty As the ratification debate continued, it began to look as if opponents— who only needed to keep thirty-five senators from voting for the treaty— might succeed (the U.S. Constitution requires the Senate to approve, by a two-thirds margin, any treaty made by the executive branch for it to take effect; since there were ninety senators in 1899, passage would require fifty- six votes). On February 4, 1899, though—only two days before the sched- uled vote—a bloody firefight erupted in tension-filled Manila between Ameri- can soldiers and Aguinaldo’s forces. When Spain had been deposed as ruler of the Philippines, Aguinaldo had in January 1899 engineered the creation of a new government—the Philippine Republic—with himself at its head. But American authorities in Washington and the Philippine capital of Manila refused to recognize the new 87 DM - Spanish American War 8/6/11 1:20 PM Page 88 Defining Moments: The Spanish-American War government. Moreover, Aguinaldo and other Filipino rebels who had fought against the Spanish for years were being treated with contempt by most U.S. administrators and soldiers. Commodore George Dewey, the commander of American naval forces in the Asian theatre, was an exception to this rule; he respected Aguinaldo and the loyalty he inspired among his men.